Another PC game launcher is being taken out to pasture. It seems that Ubisoft will be the latest game company to move away from including its own launcher with Steam games. According to a Reddit post by NostalgiaKeeper007, the company is testing an update that will have itsSteam games support existing Ubisoft Connect features, like cross-play, cross-progression, and more, without requiring the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher to be installed or launched. The company is allegedly testing the change with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
It’s difficult to verify the Reddit post directly, because the linked Steam page appears to be available only to users who own The Lost Crown. While you can see part of the message if you search for “Ubisoft” on Steam’s news feed, clicking the link results in an error.
“This first version is an initial step toward a smoother and more streamlined experience on Steam,” the alleged post from Ubisoft reads. “We will continue to iterate and improve Ubisoft Connect Services over time, with the goal of delivering the features and services players use and expect while making the Steam experience as seamless as possible.” It seems that the initiative won’t stop with just The Lost Crown, as “Ubisoft Connect Services will progressively evolve and roll out to more Ubisoft games on Steam in the future.”
Reddit users celebrated the death of the Ubisoft Connect launcher. “Please dear Lord roll it back to previous Ubisoft games so I can play them on steam machine without proton tricks,” one user commented.
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Why did players hate the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher?
As for why the Ubisoft launcher was unpopular, many players generally dislike mandatory launchers for PC games. For one, this requires users to open Steam, and then open a second launcher. More pressingly, these launchers are often associated with other drawbacks, like requiring publisher-specific accounts to access certain games and built-in DRM.
In a particularly extreme example, the Sony-published Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls requires players to log into a PSN account on Steam, which is a problem because the service isn’t available in many countries. In Tokon’s case, players have also speculated that the PSN services running in the background also tank performance, prompting modders to find a way to remove the game’s DRM, resulting in huge performance increases. While Tokon doesn’t use a launcher, Sony’s general handling of the game embodies everything players hate about this software’s potential effects.